Sealing member for filling machines



May 15, 1951 P. R. FECHHEIMER SEALING MEMBER FOR FILLING MACHINES FiledOct. 19, 1948 IN V ENTOR.

1 404 fZ'CHHE/MEQ.

ATTORNEYs.

Patented May 15, 1951 SEALHNG MEMEER FOR FILLKNG li/IACHINES Paul R.Fechheimer, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Karl Kicfer MachineCompany, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 19,1948, Serial No. 55,300

(Cl. 226--l9) 3 Claims.

My invention has to do with filling machines, and particularly with thattype of filling machine in which bottles or the like are filled byexhausting the air therefrom and creating a vacuum which causes theliquid to enter the bottle under atmospheric pressure. Machines of thisclass, for example the machine of U. S. Patent 1,763,240, comprise, ingeneral, a base upon which is mounted a central, rotating, uprightcolumn hav ing a table fixed thereon. Bottle platforms or lifting traysare mounted. on the table for mov ing bottles into and out of contactwith filling heads mounted at the top of the column positioned centrallyover each lifting tray, whereby a bottle, when placed on the tray, maybe pressed upwardly into contact with the head for a filling operationand then lowered for removal from the machine. Each filling headincludes a filling stem for insertion into the mouth of the bottle and asealing means mounted on the filling stem to contact the mouth of thebottle and form a seal therewith during the fillmg.

In devices of this character it is essential to effect an airtightclosure between the bottle being filled and the filling head, sinceotherwise the vacuum necessary to fill the bottle cannot be attained.This airtight closure is effected by the top of the bottle being thrustfirmly against a rubber sealing means by the lifting tray and retainedthere until the filling operation is completed.

It is well known that bottles are not always of uniform height, and inorder to fill bottles of slightly varying heights and still maintain atight seal between the mouths of the bottle and the sealing means on thefilling head it is necessary to compensate for the variation in height.might be attempted by resiliently mounting the lifting trays, theelasticity so provided being sutficient to take care of any inequalitiesin bottle size. Anotherway of taking up the variation in individualbottle size is to provide a compressible rubber sealing member on thefilling stem against which each bottle is pressed, the slightly shorterbottles compressing the seal to a lesser extent than the bottles ofslightly greater dimension. In automatic filling machines of the rotarytype, it is generally considered preferable to take up variations inbottle height by compressing the rubber sealing member rather than byplacing the container being filled on resiliently mounted trays.

An exemplary rubber sealing member for use in the type of fillingmachine herein described is 2 shown in Patent No. 1,572,150 issuedFebruary 9, 1926, to Karl Kiefer and entitled Filling Machines. Itcomprises a cylindrical member of rubber extending along the fillingstem, its lower end forming an annular contacting area. However whensuch a sealing member is compressed radial expansion tends to occur atits bottom, and this radial expansion, within the limits of ordinarybottle variations can be so severe as to permit entry of the mouth ofthe bottle into the central hollow of the sealing member, which willprevent the bottle from being lowered away from the filling head at theconclusion of the filling cycle. 7

It is a principal object of my invention to pro vide, in a fillingmachine of the type described, a sealing member which will permitextreme compression of the sealing surface with minimum radialdistortion.

In an object of my invention to provide a sealing member of which thebottom, or sealing surface, will be raised by the bottle, and in whichthis action is resisted not by the rubber in compression, but rather bya resilient bending of the walls of the sealing member.

It is another object of my invention to provide a sealing gasket inwhich the sealing surface is movable vertically without radialdistortion.

Another object of my invention is to provide sealing member with a broadannulus as a sealing surface, which oifers greater resistance to radialexpansion than the upper walls do to bending.

These and other objects of my invention which will be apparent uponreading these specifications or will be pointed out hereinafter, Iaccomplish by that arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe anexemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a plan view from beneath the sealing member.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevational view illustrating the sealing member fittedto the filling stem prior to contact with the bottle.

Figure 4 is an elevational view showing the gasket in airtight contactwith the mouth of the bottle.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, I have shown a sealing member formed ofrubber and comprising a hollow spherical body having walls lsubstantially circular in cross-section, open at the bottom, and forminga relatively heavy annulus 2 having a sealing surface 3. The heavyannulus 2 for contacting the necks of bottles may be shaped on its underor contacting surface in any way suitable for making a seal, and mayhave a lower surface which is either concave or convex. In commercialpractice a flat annulus is ordinarily used. The top of the sphericalbody portion is provided with an opening centered about the verticalaxis of the here of a diameter sufficient to engage the f ling stem ofthe filling machine irictionally. The annulus forming the bottom of thesealing member is also centered on the vertical oi the spherical bodyportion, but has an internal diameter greater than the outside diameterof the filling stem to permit movement or the sealing surface withoutfriction against the stem.

The walls of the sealing member as well as annulus are pr ferably ofresilient rubber, walls being relatively thin in comparison to thicknessor" the annulus. In this way the walls of the sealing member will bend,permitting upward movement of the annulus without producing distortionof the annulus when the mouth of the container is forced against it.

In Figure 3 the sealing m mber is shown mounted frictionally on thefilling stem 5 of an automatic filling machine, being held at a desiredheight by means of split collar e and with a clamp screw 7 through thsplit side, the split collar to keep the sealing member from ridingupwardly on the filling stem. A bottle 8 with mouth 2 is shown inposition beneath the filling stein prior to the lifting oi the bottlemouth into contact with the sealing surface 2 of the annulus.

In Figure 4 the bottle shown in lifted position with the filling steininserted and the sealing member under vertical compression. As thebottom or sealing surface is raised by the bottle, the Walls of thesealing member bend or fold as shown at 19.

I have thus eliminated an objectionable feature of prior devices whichwas their tendency to bell outwardly at the lower part of the seal, thusallowing the mouth of the bottle to enter the hollow interior of thesealing condition cannot obtain in my dc- Lce, for the relatively heavyannulus offers much u-eater resistance to radial expansion than theupper body walls do to bending. Therefore these upper walls will bendlaterally under the pressure of the bottle while the annular ringcontacting the mouth of the bottle rides vertically upward, retainin"its original shape and diamete'. When the filling operation is complete,the bottle will be lowered, and the gasket, being resilient, will returnto its original shape, breaking" the seal, ready to accept the next botle.

The sealing ring or annulus at the bottom of the gasket can be furtherrestrained from radial expansion by means of a metallic ring or collar H(see Figure 3) placed about the annulus after it has been molded; r, ametallic ring I2 (see Figure 4) may be molded directly into the aniiulusitself and become an integral part thereof.

While I have described my invention in connection with the automaticfilling machine of the rotary type, it is obvious that a sealing memberof the present invention may be employed in other types of fillingmachines, and I do not wish to be limited to the exemplary embodimentdescribed herein.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from thespirit of it. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as newand desire to scour by Letters Patent is:

1. A unitary sealing member for filling machines comprising a hollowspherical body terminating at its lower extremity in a broad annulus thelower surface of which constitutes a sealing surface for contact withthe upper lip surface of a bottle, said sealing member being formed ofresilient material with said spherical body characterized by relativelythin flexible Walls and said annulus by a heavy substantiallynon-flexing wall structure adapted to offer greater resistance to radialexpansion than said spherical body does to flexing, whereby when upwardpressure is applied to the sealing surface of said annulus by the uppersurface of a bottle pressed thereagainst, said spherical body will flexradially outward and said annulus will move bodily upward withoutsubstantial distortion.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said annulus includes a metallicring as an integral part thereof.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which a metallic ring is fitted aboutsaid annulus whereby distortion of said annulus is prevented.

PAUL R. FECI-IHEIMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 314,352 Stevenson Mar. 2 1, 1885590,708 Meier Sept. 28, 1897 1,183,728 Griffith May 16, 1916 1,292,740Kraft Oct. 24, 1916 1,307,898 Daum June 24, 1919 1,792,233 Frye Feb. 12,1929 1,763,240 Kieier June 10, 1930 2,996,499 Mandell Oct. 19, 19372,126,563 Lee Aug. 9, 1938 2,127,892 Stewart Aug. 23, 1938 21 161172Howard Feb. 7, 1939 2,424,897 Eckman July 29, 1947 2,et99,14;9 LippoldFeb. 28, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 637,493 Germany Oct.29, 1936

